GLP-1 cost calculator
Bottom line
The advertised month times twelve is wrong twice: the first months are a cheaper dose, and a 28-day month makes a year thirteen fills. On Foundayo that is $3,338 rather than $3,588. This walks each published step at its own price.
Last updated 2026-08-19 — each published price the ladder is built from
Work out your own number
Same stored prices as the tables below, walked for however long you expect to be on it. Nothing is sent anywhere; this is arithmetic in your browser.
| 0.8 mg | 1 × $149 | $149 |
| 2.5 mg | 1 × $199 | $199 |
| 5.5 mg and above (maintenance) | 11 × $299 | $3,289 |
Manufacturer self-pay prices only — not what a plan would charge you, and not a quote. Every figure is the one recorded on the medication's own card with the date it was verified.
How much does a year of GLP-1 treatment actually cost?
More than twelve times the advertised month, and for two reasons that compound. Nobody starts on the maintenance dose: the first weeks are a lower dose at a different price, and a ladder that reaches maintenance at week 17 spends a third of the year below it. And a manufacturer's month is 28 days rather than a calendar month, so a year is thirteen fills, not twelve. Foundayo comes to $3,338 against the $3,588 the monthly figure implies; Wegovy comes to $4,237 against the $4,188 the monthly figure implies; Zepbound comes to $5,637 against the $5,388 the monthly figure implies. The calculator above walks each published step at its own price rather than estimating, and it runs on the same stored ladder the tables on this site render, so the two can never disagree. Where a programme's price depends on refilling inside 45 days there is a lapsed setting, because that difference across a year is larger than most people expect. Every figure was read from the seller's own published page on the date shown.
What the naive sum misses
| Drug | Monthly × 12 | Walking the ladder | Difference | Fills a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundayo | $3,588 | $3,338 | $-250 | 12 |
| Wegovy | $4,188 | $4,237 | +$49 | 13 |
| Zepbound | $5,388 | $5,637 | +$249 | 13 |
First-year cost, answered
- Why not just multiply the monthly price by twelve?
- Because it is wrong in two directions at once. The first months are a different dose at a different price — nobody starts on the maintenance dose — and a manufacturer's month is 28 days, which makes a year thirteen fills rather than twelve. Foundayo works out at $3,338 against the $3,588 the monthly figure implies.
- Why is a year thirteen fills?
- Because these manufacturers define a month as 28 days and up to four single-dose pens. Thirteen 28-day fills is 364 days. It is the reason a savings card capped at thirteen fills covers exactly one calendar year, and the reason a naive twelve-times calculation understates a year by a full fill.
- Does this include the consultation or the membership?
- Where a seller bundles them, yes — every price on this site is the all-in monthly figure covering membership plus medication, and where a seller publishes only a membership fee this site says so rather than adding an estimate. What the calculator walks is the published ladder for the drug itself.
- What if I miss a refill?
- On some programmes that is the whole game. Lilly's self-pay prices for Zepbound hold only with a refill inside 45 days; lapse once and the higher rate applies. The calculator has a lapsed setting for exactly that, because the difference across a year is larger than most people expect.
Everything runs in your browser; nothing you type is sent anywhere or stored. Every price is read from the seller's own published page on the date shown. Information only, not medical or financial advice.